US calls on Cambodia to reverse course on closing media outlet

The United States on Monday called on the Cambodian government to reverse course after it revoked the media license of one of the country’s last independent news outlets. 

Prime Minister Hun Sen targeted Voice of Democracy (VOD) over the weekend over a report saying that his son and heir apparent, Lt. Gen. Hun Manet, had signed off on foreign aid to help Turkey’s earthquake recovery. 

The long-serving prime minister accused the outlet of damaging the “dignity and reputation” of the government, as only he had the authority to approve such aid, and ordered VOD to cease broadcasting by 10 a.m. Monday. 

He told reporters for the publication, which has a Khmer- and English-language website and broadcasts nationwide, to find jobs elsewhere.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. is “deeply concerned” about the decision during a news briefing Monday afternoon. 

“The decision is particularly troubling due to the chilling impact it will have on freedom of expression and on access to information ahead of the national elections in July,” Price said. 

“For more than 20 years, VOD has provided objective fact-based reporting on issues that serve the interests of the Cambodian people. We urge Cambodian authorities to reverse this decision,” he added. 

The move to shutter VOD follows a years-long campaign to suppress the free press and dissenting voices in Cambodia, where Hun Sen has been in power for nearly four decades. 

The Cambodia Daily was closed down in 2017 over a dubious tax dispute, while the Phnom Penh Post was sold in 2018 to a new owner friendly to the government. 

VOD continued to report aggressively on corruption, human trafficking, political oppression and local grievances over government mismanagement and abuse of power. 

A government spokesman reportedly confirmed that the prime minister’s son had stepped in to “play his father’s role in providing aid to Turkey,” and the outlet issued a letter apologizing for any confusion. 

Dozens of press freedom and human rights groups issued a statement Monday blasting the move as violating the country’s press law. 

“The decision to revoke VOD’s media license ahead of the July 2023 national elections represents a fresh wave of intimidation tactics against the country’s dwindling independent media that mirrors the 2017 closure of the Cambodia Daily and the 2018 sale of the Phnom Penh Post,” read the statement.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that Hun Sen’s “flimsy and absurd decision barely masks the government’s real intent to further suppress media freedom.”

Cambodian Minister of Information Kanharith Khieu wrote on Facebook Sunday evening that VOD’s fate should be “a lesson for other media outlets.”

“Institutions that do not correct their comments may face the same license revocation!” he said.

Ith Sothoeuth, the media director for VOD’s parent organization, told Al Jazeera he hoped the situation could still be resolved. 

“We hope this is not the end of everything yet,” he said. 

Relations between Cambodia and the U.S. have been strained over a number of issues, including American claims that China is building a military base on Cambodia’s coast — which both Beijing and Phnom Penh deny. 

Hun Sen’s government effectively removed the main opposition from the political landscape after it narrowly won the 2013 national election.

It has allowed a number of new parties to register ahead of the next election this summer, but continues to jail and harass opposition leaders over contested legal claims.